Summit spotlights leatherback sea turtles

An adult female leatherback sea turtle heads back to sea at dawn after laying her eggs on a nesting beach in Tambrauw, Indonesia, the origin of California’s leatherback population. Photo by Deasy Lontoh

An adult female leatherback sea turtle heads back to sea at dawn after laying her eggs on a nesting beach in Tambrauw, Indonesia, the origin of California’s leatherback population. Photo by Deasy Lontoh

California and Indonesia teamed up this week to protect Pacific leatherback sea turtles, endangered giants that nest on Indonesian beaches, but cross the ocean to forage off California’s coast.

A year after California legislature designated the species as the official state marine reptile, delegates from both regions met at an international summit in Monterey to discuss measures to protect leatherbacks.

“We need to educate the people that they’re dying off because we’re killing them with long lines, and plastic bags,” said State Assemblyman Paul Fong (D-Cupertino,) author AB 1776, which named leatherbacks as the state marine reptile.

Assemblymember Paul Fong, author of AB 1776 which declared the Pacific leatherback as California’s state marine reptile, receives a gift on behalf of the State of California from the Indonesian officials, Gabriel Assem and Amri Masri, from the Tambrauw region where California’s leatherback sea turtles lay their eggs. Photo courtesy of Oceana

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Assemblymember Paul Fong, author of AB 1776 which declared the Pacific leatherback as California’s state marine reptile, receives a gift on behalf of the State of California from the Indonesian officials, Gabriel Assem and Amri Masri, from the Tambrauw region where California’s leatherback sea turtles lay their eggs. Photo courtesy of Oceana

Leatherback sea turtles can weigh in at 400 pounds as juveniles and top a ton as adults, said Geoff Shester, California program danager for the conservation group Oceana, which convened the summit.

“A full-sized male leatherback is the size of a Volkswagen bug,” he said. “They’re really the only cold water turtle species in the world left.”

The creatures have been spotted off San Diego and the Channel Islands, and travel to Northern California. Feasting on hundreds of pounds of jellyfish per day, they help control populations of the ubiquitous sea creatures, Shester said.

On their nesting beaches they’re subject to poaching, and populations have declined by about 80 percent since the 1980’s, with only 2,000 to 3,000 nesting females left, Shester said.

The agreement signed this week pledges to help leatherbacks recover with measures such as educating Indonesian communities about the animals, training local researchers to work on nesting beaches and possibly establishing links between marine sanctuaries in California and Indonesia, he said.